Vehicle-top.



W. P. DORL.

VEHICLE TOP.

APPLICATION FILYED OCT.8. 1913.

Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET L W. P. DORL.

VEHICLE TOP.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 8. I913.

m w M n F 0% m M m WW5 i so . UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER P; DORL, or nn'rnorr, MICHIGAN, AssIGNon. To DUEL-WILEY ONE LADY AUTO TOP COMPANY, A CORPORATION or MICHIGAN.

VEHICLE-TOP.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pate ted N 30 1915 Application filedOctober 8, 1913. Serial No; 794,028.

To all whom it may concern:

. Be itknownthat-I, WALTER P. DORL, a citizen of the United States of America, re-

-.t 2is a side elevation of the frame of the siding at Detroit, in thecoiinty of Wayne and Stateof Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improveifients inJVehi ole-Tops, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings. This invention relates to vehicle tops and more particularly; to tops for automobile :useful features allashereinafter more fully described.

To these ends the invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth and more par-- ticularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings in Wl1lCh-- Figure l is a longitudinal section through a top embodying the invention, showing the same inoperative position upon an automobile body and with parts in side elevation;

'i same in foldedv position; Fig. 3is a trans- .verse section on the line w -m of Fig. 1; Fig.

via is'ai d'et ail showing a portion of a rear seat 'ew and Fig.- 5 is an enlarged sec- Thefranie ofthe top embodying this inventioncomprises a front supporting how 1. which is pivotally attached at its end to suitable brackets 2 secured to the sides or arms 3 of the rear seat of the vehicle body, and'a v rear supporting'bl ow" 4 which spans the top and forms the rear-"end thereof, the ends or sidearms of the bow extending downwardly Whentli' top israised or in operative posicent to -th'e back stays 5 which are "the'usualf manner to the back bow pper ends and to the body or seat backat their-lower'jeiidsf {LA'horizontallydisposed bow 6 forms the froiitendof the ;top:;.'fr aineand extends over. "the upper endofthe rusual wind shieldj7 of the vehiclewheit'tl etop is up. Their-ear ends of the bow 6 are connected to other parts of the frame in a manner hereinafter described by means of links 8 which are pivotally attached thereto at one' end. An

intermediate or supplemental bow 9 is pivotally-connected to the side arms of the rear how 4 by providing each arm with a longitudinal guide slot 10 to receive a stud 11 or other suitable projection on each of the ends of the bow, and the upper end of each slot is formed with an ofi'setor lateral recess 12 to receive the stud when the top is up with said intermediate bow extending forwardly from the back supporting bow in a nearly horizontal position and hold the pivoted rear ends thereof in raised position. The intermediate portion ofthis how 9 which spans the top, is held in position togive the desired shape to the cover, by means of braces 13 which are pivotally attached at their, forward ends to the main bow l at each side of .the top'and at their rear ends these braces are pivotally secured to'said how 9. Each brace, 13 is formed of'two parts which are connected by a downwardly breaking rule joint l l or similar pivotal connection so that when the top is folded, the bow 9 afterbeing foldedinto substantial parallelism with the bow 4 by sliding its ends downward in the slots 10, will lie between the supporting bows with the main bow 1 near to and substantially of these braces 13 and each link passes thebowl 1 adjacent to its inner side through a suitable guide loop 15 on said bow. to guide the links in their movements and give rigidity to the forward part ofthe top. .A second ,or-suppleinental bow 16 is provided between I the main bow l and the forward end bow 6 to give the desired shape to the forward part of the top and this bow is connected at each end to the main how 1 intermediate the ends of the side arms thereof, by links 17- pivotally attached at one endto the rear ends of the bowl-16 and at their opposite ends to cars 18 on the forward edge of the mainbow,

frame is extended and-secured' iniextended position by the us al stay straps 20 attached -The'fabric cover 19 of the top is secured -'tothe several bows so that it will be stretched smoothly and evenly thereon when the top 60 T of a shouldered bolt 28upon which the I to the front end how 6 nearthe forwardpart thereof and 'detachably secured at their lower ends'to the windshield 7 or other suitablerlgid anchorage. .When the top is re- 3 fo'rwardside of the how 1 to lower the rear ends of the supplemental. bow 16 and this bow is held in operative position'when the links are turned upwardly to the position shown in Fig. 1, by the tension put upon the cover 19 when the .top is held by the stay"; straps. A pin 21 or other lateral projection is provided upon each side arm of the bow 16 in such a-position that when said how is.

leased by releasing the straps 20 the links 17 may be swung downwardly against the swung upwardly by its links, said pins will engage beneaththe curved connecting'bars' 8 and hold said bars-against swinging down wardly. This locking of the bars 8 in operative position also locks byreason of their pivotal connection with one ofthe. members of each brace 13, said braces against breaking downwardly. The. front bow 6 and supplemental. bow 9 aretherefore'locked in operative position by throwing the links 17 upwardly to raise and lock the bow 1.6.

In order thatthe rear supporting bow 4 may fold rearwardly with the folding 'of the tops, into properrelation with themain bow 1, it is provided with rolls 22 .'on its lower ends to engage and move in suitable slots in guides 23 located adjacent to the upper edge of each arm 3 of the rear seat,

said guides-being curved forwardly and downwardly to conform substantially tothe curvature of the upper edge of said arms.

If found desirable these guides 23 1nay formed integral. with the brackets 2 at their forward ends and connected. at their rear ends by a rail which is bent to conform to the shape of the seat back near its upper edge and adapted to be bolted or otherwise firmly secured to said back. This rail is I lower side into which the roller 22 will.

preferably provided with buttons 2501' other 7 suitable means for securing the back-stays andcurtains to the seat back, and suitable downwardly extending'rest-arms 26 may be formed integral with the guides or secured thereto to support the top when in folded position. Each guide slot is formed at its.

upper or rear end with a notch 27 at its drop when the top is raised and in which it will be held by the strain put upon the fabric cover by the stay straps 20 so that i the ends of the rear bow will be prevented from sliding forwardly in their slots and the p .bow will be locked in an upright position.

Each roller 22 is attached to the end of one ofthe sidear-ms of the bow 4 by means roller is sleeved, said bolt being provided i with 'a head at one end and a reduced and screwthreaded shank at its'opposite end to pass through-an eye in the end of th'e'bow.

mes es p i A cap nut 29 on-,the oi1terendofthe bait secures the bolt j inplace and the headv of the bolt and th'eslot in the guide 23 are cow ered by a suitable shield 30 secured to the inner side of the guide over the slot. Ob-

viously the guides may be. made integral.

with v the brackets '2 as shown, or separate therefrom and from each other, and at tached to the seat in any suitable. manner.

To fold the top; it iso'nly necessary to detach the stay straps-2Qfrom thewind'ahield, then turn the links 17 downwardly, thus unlocking the bars 8 and jointed stays 13. The

bow may then be swungg rearwardly as. when the strain is taken from the. cover by detaching'the straps, the ends of the how 9 will .moveforwardly out of the; notches 12 and; slide down the guide slot 10, and the rolls. 22 willslip out of their notches 27 as soon as the backstays are slackened and roll down the inclined guide slots in the guides 23, carrying therear supporting bow forwardly. The folding of the top may thus be accomplished with ease and facility by one person and may be as easily raised and secured in extended position. I

The particular construction .gives' a very rigid frame with a-minimum number of supportingbowsto obstruct the view of the occupants of the vehicle. intermediate bows which give the desired shape to the top are so arranged that they are all concealed beneath the fabric cover and in no way obstruct the View or the exits or entrances to the 'vehicle The front and Obviously changes may be made n. we

form and arrangement of parts without de parting from the spirit of my invention and I do not therefore limit myself to the con .struction shown.

the otherbows to guides'aid ends when the 7 top is folded, and means slidable into parallelism with one of said bows adapted to permit one bow to-be moved toward the other. I I

3. In a vehicle top, the combination of a main supporting bow pivoted at its lower end,

aback bow,-means pivotally supporting the lower end of the back bow and extending from adjacentto the rear end of the top forwardly toward the pivotal support of the main. bow, and means including a bow slidable into parallelism with said back bow adapted to cotiperate with said bows in maintaining the top in a raised position.

4. In a vehicle top, the combination of a main bow, a back bow, back-stayssecured to the back bow, means for holding the lower end of the back bow with said end adjacent to the lower end of the back-stays, said holding means being adapted to permit the of, a jointed brace pivotally connected at its ends to the other of said supporting bows and to the supplemental bow, and means pivotally connected to said brace and to one of said supporting bows for holding the for- -ward end of the top when raised.

6. In a vehicle, the combination of a main bow pivotally supported at its lower end, a back bow, means for pivotally supporting the lower end of the back bow and guiding the same toward the pivoted lower end of the main bow. said back bow being provided with longitudinal guide slots, a supplemental bow guided at its end in said guide slots and extending forwardly toward the main bow, and a brace pivotally connected at its rear end to the supplemental bow and at its forward end to the main bow and provided with a downwardly breaking joint intermediate its ends. i

T. In a vehicle top, the combination with a main how. a horizontally disposed bow, connecting bars pivotally attached to the ends of the horizontal bow and having a sliding movement at the inner sides of said main bow. means movably supported by the rear side of said main bow for holding said bars. and an intermediate bow between the main and horizontal bows adapted to support said bars and horizontal bow in operative position.

S. In a vehicle top, the combination'of a main how. a. horizontally disposed front end bow, connecting bars pivotally attached to the rear (lids of the. main bow and extending rearwardlv of saidi-main bow, means at p the rear side of said main bowfor movably supporting said bars relative to said maln ends relative to the main bow, and means on from turning downwardly at its rear end.

9. In 'avehicle top, the combination of a main bow pivotally supported at its lower ends, a supplemental bow rearwardly of the main bow, downwardly movable supporting means for the supplemental bow, a front end bow, members connecting the rear ends of the end bow and said supporting means, an intermediate bow between the end and main bows, and means on the main bow for supporting the rear ends of the intermediate bow and adapted to raise and hold said intermediate bow into engagement with said members' 10. In a vehicle top, the combination of a main bow, a back bow, a supplemental bow having the rear ends thereof movable longitudinally of said back bow, means forming a pivotal connection between said supplemental bow and said main bow, guides adapted to be secured to the sides of a ve hicle body and each having a longitudinal guide slot, and means on the lower ends of the back bow to engage sa'id slots.

11. In a vehicle top, the combination of a main bow,-a back bow, guides adapted to be secured to the sides of a vehicle body and each provided with a forwardly and downwardly' curved guide slot having. a lateral recess adjacent to its upper rear end, and rollers on the lower ends of said back bow to engage said slot and recess.

with guide slot, rolls on the lower ends. of the back bow to engage said slots,*a hor1-. zontally disposed front end bow, connecting I members pivotally attached at one end to said brace members and at their opposite ends to the rear ends of said "end bow, guides on the-main bow for said connecting members. and means carried by the main bow for preventing the downward movement of said connecting members.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' WVALTER P. DORL.

Witnesses LEWIS E. FLANDERS,

,ANNA M. Donn. 

